Episode Guide

Season: 2014

Walther PPK

Sometimes fame comes calling from the oddest directions. For the Walther PPK, fame arrived in the form of a letter to new author Ian Fleming, praising his swashbuckling character, James Bond, but suggesting that Fleming’s choice of firearm for his hero, the Beretta .22, was “utterly useless as well as being a lady’s gun.” Enter James Bond’s new handgun, the Walther PPK.

Browning A5 Shotgun

The Browning Auto-5 has its own special place in history as the first semi-auto shotgun, another of the great John Browning’s designs for the ages. Browning called the A-5 his greatest achievement, and while other experts may disagree, the A-5 is certainly Browning’s most star-crossed...

The Lee Enfield Rifle

It may be the ugly duckling of military firearms, but the Lee-Enfield series of bolt action rifles served the British Empire from the closing years of the 19th Century almost to the 21st. And while troops might have referred to the rifle as “Smelly,” a spin on its S.M.L.E. designation, it was always said with affection...

Bullpup Rifles

The bull pup rifle, designed with the magazine and action behind the pistol grip, seems like an excellent solution to the constant military demands of “shorter” and “lighter.” But after decades of service in major militaries, the verdict is still out on the bull pups...why should that be?

Colt Python

Think of it as the Lamborghini of revolvers. The Colt Python in .357 Magnum, with its sleek lines, incredible finish, superb accuracy and flawless trigger pull, has been repeatedly described as the finest production revolver ever made. So why did the Python vanish?

The C96 Broomhandle Mauser

Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle that, when fully assembled, creates one of the most recognizable gun profiles of all time. The C-96 Mauser, as it's more commonly known, the Broomhandle Mauser, is not only a machine of warfare, but the finest expression of Victorian Era gun-making, maybe the ultimate “Steampunk” pistol.

Roosevelt's Africa Gun

Was there ever a more enthusiastic President than Theodore Roosevelt? Teddy Roosevelt lived life largely, a character perfectly suited to the Gilded Age of American History. Cowboy, soldier, politician and first and foremost, a hunter.

Ruger Standard .22 Pistol

If there was ever a gun perfectly suited to its time, it's the Ruger Standard .22 semi-auto pistol, Bill Ruger's enduring triumph of modern manufacturing, the relentless pursuit of a vision and, and this is important, a uncanny sense of what the American public wanted.

Sniper Rifles

The date was May 9, 1864, and Union General James Sedgwick had just admonished his troops in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House to stop flinching from Confederate fire almost 1000 yards away. “They couldn’t hit an elephant as this distance,” he shouted. Within seconds, the Confederate sniper’s bullet hit the General just below his left eye, and the Union troops learned the battlefield-controlling power of the sniper.

Guns of Little Big Horn: 7th Cavalry

Host Joe Mantegna and numerous experts take a look at the firearms used by the Seventh Cavalry during the Battle of Little Big Horn. Was Custer’s last stand due to the choice of arms during the battle, or were his tactics and bravado the root cause of his defeat during the most studied battle in American History.

Guns of Little Big Horn: Sitting Bull's Arsenal

For over a hundred years, experts and historians have claimed the Native Americans under Sitting Bull's command had a superiority of firepower over George Custer's Seventh Cavalry at the Little Big Horn. But recent excavations of the battle site, combined with historical interviews of the time, paint a different picture of the quality and number of arms they were able to bring to bear against the US Military.

English Double Rifles

In the mid-1800s, as the height of the British Empire, explorer Sir. Richard Francis Burton returned from Darkest Africa with amazing stories and a new word, safari, the Swahili word for “long journey.” Then the rush was on as young gentlemen explorers and hunters headed to Africa and India in search of game and adventure. And with them they brought perhaps the finest firearms ever made, the magnificent English double rifles.

Browning M2 HB

Few firearms have had such a profound effect on warfare as John Browning’s massive .50 caliber M2 heavy machine gun, the most successful machine gun ever made. Affectionately called the “Ma Deuce” by American soldiers through 5 wars and numerous smaller actions around the world, and still is the go-to gun for the U.S. military.